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Is Antigone Rising a Gay Band?

Is Antigone Rising a Gay Band?

Greetings Epochalips-ians,
I’m Kristen from the band Antigone Rising. Very quickly, that’s pronounced an-tig-UH-nee rising. I KNOW at least 10 of you just had an “a-ha” moment because you’ve been calling my band an-TIE-gone Rising for the past 10 years. Here’s how I feel about that. Totally fine. You can pronounce my band’s name wrong, just so long as you’re talking about us. We are an all female rock band that formed in New York City, and we very often get asked, “Are you a gay band?” Let’s discuss this for Time_Maga moment. What does that mean, a gay band? And no, I’m not answering a question with a question to avoid coming out to you. I can be seen kissing my wife (not gay kissing, just kissing) on the cover of Time Magazine (April 8, 2013 “Gay Marriage Already Won” issue), so clearly I am gay. I think most people would kiss their wife on the cover of Time Magazine if asked, no? Anyway, my point is this. I don’t think you can use gay as an adjective to describe a band. We are a rock band. I am a gay person in a rock band. That doesn’t make my band a gay rock band. Right? You know what, I’ve had a moment to think about it. Either way, I’m fine with it. We’re a rock band. We’re a female band. We’re a gay band. Just so long as we’re your favorite band, that’s all I care about. You can keep pronouncing the name wrong, if you’ve grown comfortable with it.

Our new single, That was the Whiskey,” is available for purchase on iTunes. It’s based on events that took place when our lead singer turned, well, we actually do lie about our age. So it doesn’t matter which birthday it was. But it is loosely based on us drinking too much while celebrating with our friends, Vicki Petersen from The Bangles (yes, that was a slight name drop), Garrison Starr, Michelle Malone and Lori McKenna at the 30A Songwriters Festival in Florida. It was a fun night. In fact, it was a gay night. Because gay can mean fun, right? So take a listen to our new song. Come out (pun intended) and see us some time.

Antigone Rising’s Kristen Ellis-Henderson, is featured kissing her wife, Sarah Kate on the recent cover of Time magazine. Kristen and Sarah Kate have an amazing story. A few years back, they were struggling to conceive  and after several attempts they ended up both getting pregnant on the SAME DAY! They Bookrecently released a book, Times Two, which details their story.

Kristen is also known for being in the all-female, New York based band Antigone Rising. Catapulted into the spotlight in 2005 with their Hear Music/Lava Records debut release From the Ground Up, the band’s follow up studio album, 23 Red (distributed through Joan Jett’s Blackheart Records label – August 2, 2011) boldly claimed their place as a rock/country force to be reckoned with. Antigone Rising’s brand new single, “That Was The Whiskey,” (co-written with Nashville song writer Lori McKenna), is already getting praise from critics as a foot stompin’ country/rock mash up, perfectly marrying the band’s ability to rock with their gift for writing undeniably catchy songs.

The band is currently finishing a new EP, due out later this year.
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